Presentation of ”ISLANDS” music CD and Nordic Christmas celebration

Presentation of „Islands” music CD by the contemporary Latvian composer Raimonds Tiguls will take place on Wednesday, 21 December 18:00 at the NCM Office in Latvia, 13/3 Marijas (Bergs bazaar).
The first creative seeds of the music CD ”Islands” were sown five years ago, when having received a grant from the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Program for Culture, composer Raimonds Tiguls embarked on his first travels across Iceland and the island of Gotland. Various local musicians encountered there, whether deliberately or accidentally, played a pivotal role in the making of the album.

The record features Icelandic musician Steindor Andersen performing rimur - centuries old Icelandic epic songs, which have also appeared in the works of “Sigur Ros”. Another musician featuring in the record is folk singer Gertrud Jakobsson reciting the ancient Gotland dialect. The title song of the “Islands” album is played by a musical instrument yet unheard of in Latvia – the stone harp made by the Icelandic sculptor Páll Guðmundsson. Its xylophone-like shape is made of stone plates found on the spot in Iceland while its timbre is a solid match for the timeless sound of rimur. The album was recorded in the ”Moonlight Sound Design” with the participation of other Latvian performers of high acclaim, such as The Riga Saxophone Quartet, the folk music ensemble ”Atbalsis”, the trio ”Silk”, as well as Deniss Paškēvics (bass clarinet) and percussionists Artis Orubs and Rihards Zaļupe.